Old Universal Remotes Never Die, They Just Fade Away – Say Goodbye To Philips’ Pronto Line

Well this is kind of sad, but not completely surprising either. At one point the Philips Pronto line was the king of the heap when it came to universal remotes, even going as far as to allow users to create their own custom buttons on some of the higher-end models. But ‘higher-end’ I think was the biggest issue since some of those models had price tags of over $1,000. For home theater enthusiasts it might have been worth it, but that’s a small, niche market. And while there were cheaper models in the Pronto line, there’s been some tough competition recently from both Logitech and even add-ons that turn the iPhone into a robust universal remote.

Apparently back in December of 2009 Philips relocated some of its remote control operations from Belgium to Asia, and at the same time had started to “investigate alternative strategic options for the Pronto business” since they felt the line no longer fit the company’s strategy. And after not being able to find a buyer for the line, Philips has finally confirmed that it will be unfortunately discontinued. I guess Christmas has come early this year for Logitech.

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